Website Evaluation: Content

Beginning researchers often make the mistake of using websites and other sources merely because they contain the keywords (or search terms) used to find them. Ask the following questions about the content of any website you might wish to use as a source for college-level work:

• Is the information relevant to my need? Does it clarify, contextualize, or answer your research question(s)?
• Does the site add something you do not already know or provide a source for something you knew but could not previously cite?
• How does the information compare with what you have already found? Comparing multiple sources across formats (e.g., an open web site, scholarly encyclopedia article, and scholarly journal article), places you in a better position to evaluate any one website you might encounter on the open web.

As with bias, context is critical in evaluating the content of a website or any other information source. For example, a researcher would not necessarily expect to find a bibliography on the official website of a Hollywood or Indie film. But a research would expect to see a list of works cited at the end of a scholarly journal article about that film.